Mountable and demountable file box assembly



April 2, 1968 D. E. WHYTE 3,3 75,935

MOUNTABLE AND DEMOUNTABLE FILE BOX ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 1966 2 SheetsSheei 1 FIG. I

INVENTOR. DONALD E WHYTE ATTORNEY A ril 2, 1968 D. E. WHYTE 3,375,935

MOUNTABLE AND DEMOUNTABLE FILE BOX ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 2, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO'E' DONALD E. WHYTE ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,375,935 MOUNTABLE AND DEMOUNTABLE FILE BOX ASSEMBLY Donald E. Whyte, 6507 Firwood Drive, Vancouver, Wash. 98665 Filed Sept. 2, 1966, Ser. No. 576,969 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-135) This invention relates in general to small, portable files such as multiple desk trays, temporary files for letters and papers, and relates especially to small con- Venient compartment files suitable for schoolroom, office and home use.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical file box containing a plurality of shelves or compartments which can be shipped or stored in compact dismantled condition and quickly and easily set up when required.

A related object is to provide a practical file box which also can easily. subsequently be disassembled when no longer needed and again stored in compact, folded condition for further future use.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a practical and very inexpensive file assembly adapted to be formed of cardboard or similar material which, although being made of such lightweight and cheap material, nevertheless will, when set up with the various parts in place, form a strong and sturdy file box assembly suitable for any purpose for which similar file units are used and also suitable and sturdy enough so that a group of such file boxes being used may be arranged in stacks or in rows of continuing side by side arrangement.

The construction and formation of this improved file box and the manner in which it is assembled and set up for use, and similarly the manner in which it may subsequently be disassembled and returned to compact form for storage for future use, will be readily understood from the following brief description and explanation with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the integral main frame member, designated as a whole by the reference character 50, which forms the back, top and side-locking members of the composite file box assembly;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one of the identical integral members, designated as a whole by the reference character 60, which members form the shelves or partitions in the file box;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the main frame member 50 of FIG. 1, set up to receive the shelf or partition members;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the shelf member 60 of FIG. 2 folded in preparation for being set into place;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the first shelf member being set in place;

FIG. 6' is a side elevation showing the shelf members all in place and the top portion and side-locking portions of the main member 50 of FIG. 1 being pushed down into final and locking position; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the device completely set up for use as a file box with a plurality of horizontal shelves or filing compartments.

For the purpose of illustration, the file box is shown as having four shelves and thus as having four identical shelf members 60, but it is to be understood that this is for illustration only since, as will later be apparent, the invention may be carried out with file boxes having a greater or less number of shelves. However, the file box with four shelves has been found to be very practical for the uses for which it has been especially designed.

3,375,935 Patented Apr. 2, 1968 Referring first to FIGS. 2 and 4, each of the identical shelf or partition members 60 consists of a bottom or shelf panel 10, a pair of side walls 11, and a pair of flanges 12 on the side walls respectively, a slot 13 and an aligned open-ended slot 14 separate each of the side walls 11 from the shelf panel 10 and provide the means by which the shelf members 60 may be efficiently interlocked into the main frame member, presently described, to form a composite file box assembly. When each of the shelf members 60 is folded as shown in FIG. 4, it is ready to be inserted in place in the folded member 50 which member constitutes the main frame member for the composite box. This main frame member 50 is folded and set up as next explained.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3, the main frame member 50 in these figures has a back wall panel 16 and a pair of side flaps 17 and 18 which are folded inwardly and forwardly on the fold lines 16' at with respect to the back wall panel 16. Each of the side flaps 17 and 18 has an equal number (thus three in the device illustrated) of equally-spaced identical, open-ended slots 22 extending in from the outer edge, and a corresponding bottom notch 22. The spacing between these determines the spacing between the shelves or shelf panels of the box, as will presently be apparent, and this spacing also corresponds to the width or height of the side walls 11 of the shelf members 60.

The main frame member 50 of FIGS. 1 and 3 also has an integral top wall panel 19 adapted to be folded over on the fold line 20 and finally brought down into position at 90 with respect to the back wall panel 16. A pair of side locking ears or splines 21, shaped as shown in FIG. I, extend from the opposite sides of the top wall panel 19 and are adapted to be folded over on the fold lines 21' at 90 with respect to the top Wall panel 19. The top wall panel 19 is substantially the same size and shape as the shelf panel 10 of each of the shelf members 60 and constitutes the top surface of the finished composite file box.

When the device is to be assembled and set up the main frame member 50 of FIG. 1 is first folded and set up as shown in FIG. 3. Each shelf member 60 (there being four in the particular file box illustrated) preferably is next folded as shown in FIG. 4. Then each shelf member in turn is set in place on the main frame member, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the open-ended slots 14 of the bottom shelf member being inserted in the bottom notches 22' respectively of the side flaps 17 and 18, and the open-ended slots 14 of the other shelf members being inserted respectively in corresponding open-ended cooperating slots 22 in the side flaps 17 and 18. The rear ends of the side walls 11 of each shelf member extend over the side flaps 17 and 18. The shelf members will then be in position in the assembly, as illustrated in FIG. 6. It is to be noted also that the shelf members 60 may be inserted into the folded member 50 while they are in the flattened shape shown in FIG. 2 and then subsequently folded into the shape shown in FIG. 4. This facilitates mounting the shelf members into folded member 50 since the shelf members are easier to handle when in their flattened shape. The top flanges 12 on the side walls 11 all extend inwardly and the notches 15' (FIGS. 4 and 5) enable the inner ends of the top flanges 12 of the shelf members to pass inside of the side flaps 17 and 18. These top flanges 12 of the shelf members also keep the forward ends of the shelf members from telescoping downwardly over one another.

After the shelf members 60 are all in place on the main frame member 50, as shown in FIG. 6, the top wall panel 19 of the member 50 is brought downwardly and into horizontal position (FIGS. 6 and 7). When this is ried from one place to another, and if down into parallelism with the shelf panels 10. The locking splines hold the side walls of the shelf members in alignment. This locks the entire assembly firmly into final set-up arrangement, as shown in FIG. 7, and the file will remain firmly in this set-up arrangement during all ordinary use of the file box, or until manually disassembled.

box is light in Weight and easily carmade of stilf cardboard, will be strong enough for all Ordinary file uses. Several such file boxes may be stacked one on top of another if needed. If preferred, the file box may be placed on one side, in which case the shelf panels serve instead as vertical partitions, forming upright compartments, for example suitable for the filing of phonograph records.

When the file box is temporarily no longer needed, it may easily be dismantled and the members all returned to their original flattened-out positions of FIGS. 1 and 2. The dismantling is accomplished in exactly the reverse order. Thus the top wall portion 19 is first raised until the side-locking flaps 21 are entirely free from the side walls of the individual shelf members 60, the shelf members 60 are pulled out from the main frame member 50, and the separated members may then be placed in compact arrangement for storage until further use is required.

I claim:

1. A file box assembly comprising a main frame member and a plurality of identical shelf members, a back wall panel in said main frame member, a pair of side flaps at the sides of said back wall panel respectively, a top wall panel at the top of said back wall panel, a shelf panel in each of said shelf members, a pair of side walls at the sides of each shelf panel respectively, a flange at the top of each side wall, cooperating engaging means The resulting file on said walls of said shelf members and on said side flaps of said back wall panel for mounting said shelf members on said main frame member, each of said shelf members having slots extending part way along between the shelf panel and each of said side walls and also similar slots between each of said side walls and the top flange, and a pair of locking splines at the sides of said top wall panel of said main frame panel respectively, said locking splines being of such length and so arranged as to extend down into the lowermost shelf member when said shelf members are in place in said main frame member and said top wall panel and said shelf panels of said shelf members are brought into parallel relationship, whereby, with said shelf panels mounted in place on said main frame member, the inserting of said locking splines down through the aligned slots in said shelf members will cause the assembly to be held firmly in set-up position as a file box.

2. The file box assembly of claim 1 with said cooperat ing engaging means on said side walls of said shelf members and on said side flaps of said back wall panel of said main frame member consisting of open-ended inter-engaging slots so arranged as to enable the rear portions of said side walls to extend over said side flaps.

3. The file box of claim 2 with hinge folds between said flaps and said back wall panel, and between said top wall panel and said back wall panel, and between said locking splines and said top wall panel, and between said side walls and said shelf panels of said shelf members, and between said flanges and said side walls of said shelf members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,120,413 2/1964 Scotti 312ll1 X 3,139,192 6/1964 Maguire 211- 3,163,344 12/1964 Tunick 229l6 3,287,075 11/1966 Batke et al 312111 CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FILE BOX ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A MAIN FRAME MEMBER AND A PLURALITY OF IDENTICAL SHELF MEMBERS, A BACK WALL PANEL IN SAID MAIN FRAME MEMBER, A PAIR OF SIDE FLAPS AT THE SIDES OF SAID BACK WALL PANEL RESPECTIVELY, A TOP WALL PANEL AT THE TOP OF SAID BACK WALL PANEL, A SHELF PANEL IN EACH OF SAID SHELF MEMBERS, A PAIR OF SIDE WALLS AT THE SIDES OF EACH SHELF PANEL RESPECTIVELY, A FLANGE AT THE TOP OF EACH SIDE WALL, COOPERATING ENGAGING MEANS ON SAID WALLS OF SAID SHELF MEMBERS AND ON SAID SIDE FLAPS OF SAID BACK WALL PANEL FOR MOUNTING SAID SHELF MEMBERS ON SAID MAIN FRAME MEMBER, EACH OF SAID SHELF MEMBERS HAVING SLOTS EXTENDING PART WAY ALONG BETWEEN THE SHELF PANEL AND EACH OF SAID SIDE WALLS AND ALSO SIMILAR SLOTS BETWEEN EACH OF SAID SIDE WALLS AND THE TOP FLANGE, AND A PAIR OF LOCKING SPLINES AT THE SIDES OF SAID TOP WALL PANEL OF SAID MAIN FRAME PANEL RESPECTIVELY, SAID LOCKING SPLINES BEING OF SUCH LENGTH AND SO ARRANGED AS TO EXTEND DOWN INTO THE LOWERMOST SHELF MEMBER WHEN SAID SHELF MEMBERS ARE IN PLACE IN SAID MAIN FRAME MEMBER AND SAID TOP WALL PANEL AND SAID SHELF PANEL OF SAID SHELF MEMBERS ARE BROUGHT INTO PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP, WHEREBY, WITH SAID SHELF PANELS MOUNTED IN PLACE ON SAID MAIN FRAME MEMBER, THE INSERTING OF SAID LOCKING SPLINES DOWN THROUGH THE ALIGNED SLOTS IN SAID SHELF MEMBERS WILL CAUSE THE ASSEMBLY TO BE HELD FIRMLY IN SET-UP POSITION AS A FILE BOX. 